OBR chair quits after inquiry into early release of budget document

Richard Hughes takes ‘full responsibility’ for watchdog error as Starmer attempts to secure chancellor’s position

The chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility has resigned after a damning internal inquiry into the leak that threw Rachel Reeves’s budget into chaos described it as the “worst failure” in the institution’s history.

The departure of Richard Hughes, who said he took “full responsibility” for the watchdog’s failure to handle sensitive information, dragged the rolling recriminations over the budget into a fifth day.